Recommended deep-fringe rooftop antennas?

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 4:35pm

I currently have a cheap rooftop antenna and rotor, and an indoor inline signal amplifier, with which I can pick up the analog signals from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Toronto, and sometimes Oswego, Ottawa, and Montreal. (I live by Lake Ontario in Williamson.)

Running that same antenna through the converter boxes purchased at WalMart, the only digital signals that come in are one (sometimes two) station(s) in Rochester.

What is the recommended deep-fringe rooftop antenna?
Do you recommend an outdoor amplifier be installed with it? If so, which one, at what gain?
Is part of my problem the converter boxes that I purchased? Are there significant differences in quality among the boxes available? What is the best?

First, make sure you've done a channel scan by selecting menu or setup on your remote, and scroll down until you find where it says channel scan or the like (sometimes it is called auto scan. Check your manual for details and specifics.) If your converter box is a Zenith DTT 900 or 901 you can do a signal strength improvement (select menu and select signal strength, it will be listed above channel scan on the Zenith) but make sure to do another channel scan. If you have done that, or things have not improved, check the positioning of your antenna. In addition to that, check for corroded wiring or other signs of wear and tear. WXXI is leery to suggest amplifiers for antennas, unless they are designed specifically for the digital signal (it can worsen the signal otherwise). Although an outdoor antenna should work best, WXXI recommends a few indoor antennas first, namely the Terk HDTVi and TV4 models (which can be found at Rowe Photos; locations include Greece, Webster and on Mt. Hope) and the Phillips PHDTV3 (which can be ordered online at www.jr.com). Most converter boxes have worked fine (only the RCA brand seems to have a severely high return rate), but WXXI recommends the Zenith DTT 901 (most places are not carrying the 900 model any longer; however, that works well, too, if you come across it) and the Insignia brands -- because of the quality of tuner and how well it demodulated in the engineering tests. If you have anymore questions you may call 1-866-348-9994.